UAD Neve 33609 appreciation!

[Plec]

I must just go public and say how much I truly love the Neve series of plugins! 8)

I think they really do stand up to hardware. Maybe not fully to the originals (which I don't know jack about), but they do perform the task they were designed to do much better than hardware that was not quite designed for the same thing. The EQs work in a very specific way you know. The other day I was working on a vocal track for mixing.. and I usually use some hardware EQ like a Millennia, AMEK, Focusrite or API. But on this specific one.. I couldn't find an EQ that did the job better than the UAD Neve 1073. It was just perfect... maybe a hardware would've worked even better.. but who cares

The 33609 is my FAVOURITE compressor of all time for adding punch and attitude to tracks.. especially drums. My previous compressor of choice for similar jobs was the Waves C1 which is still a superb compressor for dialing in a lot of attitude. The UAD 33609 does a very similar thing but with more balls. I have a hardware rack of distressors, fatso, 2-1176, ADL, Urei, Smart C2... but the 33609 does things that the others don't. Again.. the hardware might do a better job, but the point is again that the software does a better job at performing a certain task that the high-end hardware was not designed to do.

I need to get one more card now.. damn you UA! :wink:

 

[sniper]

I might be ignorant but i just don't get it...
When the 33609 was released i activated the demo, i spent some 45 minuites with it until my new PC arrived and, long story short, 14 days passed.
After reading all those \"dude, ya gatta feed it with max -14db rms to really make it shine\"-posts i managed to persuade UA to hand me a demo-reset but still.. I just didn't get it.

Sure it does somethingto the sound, but to me it didn't behave like anything i was used to.. not like the Fairchild, not like the SSL 4000 not like the 1176ln, not like.. anything.

I just don't get why some love it and some, like me, don't.
what should i listen for? what DOES it do that is so divine?

The 1st plug i got to think of in this march-promotion was the 33609.
I'd really like to buy it but i just don't know why i should...

 

[brian]

Yea this thing really does that slap/splat type sound on drums well. Good for vocals too. I really like being able to drive the limiter with the makeup gain or even use the limiter section on its own for slamming things.

 

[Plec]

sniper,

Well.. I don't know. I'm quite surprised at how many negative responses there were about the 33609 initially, but I must say that I've always loved it for what it does.

People usually complain about using it as a master compressor, they say that it eats low-end. I have a suggestion as to why though. If you do some measurements on the thing with test signals you can clearly see that it technically does not eat any low-end. At least not on my tests... So why do people hear it like that? Well, it's a compressor that adds a lot of initial attack if you want it to. The attack time of this thing is somewhere around 8ms or so.. and well IME if you put any compressor at an 8ms attack time and compress a few db you hear that as eating up bottom simply because you are letting the inital transiet through before the compressor starts working i.e you let high-end through before the compressor pushes down anything that comes afterwards.. mainly the low-end. That's how I hear it anyway... try the Waves SSL at a 3ms attack time. Doesn't it too \"remove\" low-end but in a slightly different manner?

For me, I'm just not a big fan of using the 33609 on a master simply because I tend to like compression at 30ms attack or slower on the master bus. I love it on stuff like overheads to add punch while keeping control, vocals for a very responsive aggressive sound that really let the attack through on syllables. Using it as a sub-group or parallell compressor is da-bomb if you're looking for character. Compared to other plugins I'd like to say that the Waves C1 comes closest to the vibe, but what I've always missed with that one is when you have a 5-10ms attack and really compress hard to get the attack it does so very cleanly. The 33609 makes you believe that still have a certain amount of \"bass\" in the initial attack. It sounds thicker, heavier and bolder. That's what I dig!

It really doesn't do anything divine.. it's just a great sounding compressor. Since I have a hardware rack of compressors for about 25 grand that still doesn't do the things that the UAD 33609 does, says quite a few things.

 

[rydan]

Well, at first I didn't like it either...

I'm mainly into electronic music, and there, as a master bus compressor, the Sonalksis 315 kicked the 33609:s but soooooo hard. Well, I wasn't impressed, and I probably wouldn't have bought it if it wasn't for one thing...

Electronic snare drum. It rocks! The 33609 gives it this really really short, snappy, hard attack. Loved it, and found no other compressor that did that as good as the 33609, so, well, I bought it (since I had the 1073 and wanted the 1081, the bundle price, together with promotion made it pretty cheap as well).

Next thing I noted was that it was pretty good as a parallel compressor as well.

Now, last week, I helped a few friends of mine with mixing a rock/gospel CD. Oh boy was the 33609 good for those drums! You had a rather well recorded, pretty standard rock drum kit, put the 33609 on the drum bus, and all of a sudden, the drums glued together, and sounded huge! They just got punch all over. Amazing!

So, well, I guess, as always, it pretty much depends on what you want to use it for...

(And yes, I still think it sucks when it comes to managing dynamics by the way... =D )

 

[Fairlight]

I love it, although haven't dabbled with it too much. I used it on input to my DAW when reording toy car impacts with various surfaces in my studio, using very subtle compression. I also used it as a Master Bus compressor, along with the 1073, on sound I put to a video. Beautiful.

Cheers,
Peter

 

[Dan Duskin]

I got a renewed 14-day trial for the demo... and I must say that I like it more than I did before. I still don't like it on the mixbus/master, but it sounds better than the SLL 4000 stereo compressor on drums 50% of the time... I like it on vocals and bass for that \"edgy\" sound more than the 1176. But... this was a comparison to just a few other plugins.

I think I will buy it... because I think it will come in handy on occasion for me. But it did not \"blow me away\". I thought that the Kjaerhus Golden Compressor sounded better on the drum group than both the SLL 4000 from WAVES and the 33690 from UA... and I thought that the Voxengo PolySquasher sounder better on the mix-bus/master than the SLL 4000 from WAVES and the 33690 from UA.

 

[Arys Chien]

Sure it does somethingto the sound, but to me it didn't behave like anything i was used to.. not like the Fairchild, not like the SSL 4000 not like the 1176ln, not like.. anything.

Sorry to say that, but I've been feeling totally the opposite way as you do....

The 33609 plug-in, in my ear, is a big leap from UA. I wish they could redo all the previous compressor plug-ins, which now only sound as good as the 33609SE to me.

I know that they all have their own character, the 1176LN, the LA2A, and the Fairchild 670. Yet the 33609 is the only one that sound like a "rea" compressor.

Let me put it this way: after using the 33609 for a while, I started to hear the "plastic" in other UA compressor plug-ins. (Bear in mind that, to my ears, almost all other compressor plug-ins suck. I do love UA plug-ins the most.)

(I'm not a native English speaker so finding words to describe sound is my really weak point. Forget what I said if it doesn't make sense to you.)

I too never use 33609 on the mix bus. Just don't like it there. Yet I'm using it for drumset parallel compression in almost every song I'm working on, except for those that do not have drums. :wink: It gives me the "record sound" I want for drums. It's very easy. I don't have to compress the kick and snare and toms anymore. The parallel compression by 33609 along is good enough. I got compression from the compressed group track and transient from the original tracks. Awesome.

By the way, I still think the 33609 is great for piano.

 

[Fairlight]

How do you set up Parallel compression and what exactly is it? I guess it's playing the compressed signal with the original signal and route it as sends / returns rather than insert? Why was this done originally and what are its creative uses? I use compression in the conventional way

Cheers,
Peter

 

[Nightowl]

How do you set up Parallel compression and what exactly is it? I guess it's playing the compressed signal with the original signal and route it as sends / returns rather than insert? Why was this done originally and what are its creative uses? I use compression in the conventional way

Cheers,
Peter

Parallel compression is blending a compressed signal with the original source. I use it all the time on drum/ bass bus. '

To do it, basically but a comp on a bus and use a pre-fader send from the original track/s. Blend the two sounds accordingly.

the advantage of this is that you retain the transiants and some of the dynamics by having the dry sound in there, and you get the punchy aspect of the compressed sound as well.

 

[BTLG]

Yeah,

I've been using it as a mix compressor for this hip hop album I'm working on. At about 4-5 dB of compression across the bus, it kicks.

Matt

 

[Paul Woodlock]

How do you set up Parallel compression and what exactly is it? I guess it's playing the compressed signal with the original signal and route it as sends / returns rather than insert? Why was this done originally and what are its creative uses? I use compression in the conventional way

Cheers,
Peter

Parallel compression is blending a compressed signal with the original source. I use it all the time on drum/ bass bus. '

To do it, basically but a comp on a bus and use a pre-fader send from the original track/s. Blend the two sounds accordingly.

the advantage of this is that you retain the transiants and some of the dynamics by having the dry sound in there, and you get the punchy aspect of the compressed sound as well.

I always use a post-fader send as it maintains the ratio between dry and compressed if you want to change the drum gain.

 

[Akis]

How do you set up Parallel compression and what exactly is it? I guess it's playing the compressed signal with the original signal and route it as sends / returns rather than insert? Why was this done originally and what are its creative uses? I use compression in the conventional way

Cheers,
Peter

Parallel compression is blending a compressed signal with the original source. I use it all the time on drum/ bass bus. '

To do it, basically but a comp on a bus and use a pre-fader send from the original track/s. Blend the two sounds accordingly.

the advantage of this is that you retain the transiants and some of the dynamics by having the dry sound in there, and you get the punchy aspect of the compressed sound as well.

I always use a post-fader send as it maintains the ratio between dry and compressed if you want to change the drum gain.

Your way changes the way the parallel compressor re-acts to the original signal. I send it pre-fader and after I find the desired blend between the 2, I link the 2 faders for overall volume control.

 

[Fairlight]

Thanks guys

 

[wishingwell]

I think the 33609 is the most characterful software compressor i've heard. I agree with plec, it does'nt really do anything divine, to me it just sounds nice but goes on audio in a strong way with that nice sound. It really lets its presence be felt in a good way without being annoying. But thick,heavy,gluey etc . It's not the compressor i use most frequently but it definitely has the most character of all i own. I think it is a step forward with virtual compressors with strong personality. The whole Neve bundle is treasured dearly by me. To me that bundle is at the top of the software list when it comes to Character, when compared to what i've heard and according to my personal taste.

 

[Dave Bourke]

I bought the bundle yesterday and just for kicks I tested them on some of the wimpiest sounds and loops I have. Nearly took the top of my head off!

Wow!

These plug-ins are going to change the way I work.

Kind regards.

 

[marQs]

These plug-ins are going to change the way I work.

That's what they do to me at the moment... as long as there was no budget for neves here, I forced me to think that I already have best plugs for any kind of purpose. But this bundle - got it for 2 weeks now - really kicks in a different manner, which is very useful and welcome in the arsenal 8)

 

[gringoscar]

33609

Its just nice to have another flavor of spank to use on Drums, Subgroups etc...
The 1176ln and 33609 give us two unique sounds (choice of character) When spanking extreme...

Life is good.

 

[Bluesgeetar]

hmm

Well I have lurked here long enough. As a recording artist in using acoustic guitars electric guitars and traditional instruments in a blues rock implimentation, all I can say is thatt the Neve bundle deliver the goods. The 33609 is doing sweet sweet things to my acoustic tracks. Alot of breath and air. I ran it by a super celebrity guitar player friend of mine and he was equally impressed. THE sad part is that UAD shot them selves in the foot with these. I really don't think I'll ever need any more compressors or eq or limiter type plugs anymore from UAD. They can come out with the Helos EQ all they want. I ain't buying it. I'm well aware that UAD does some marketing and pushing of it's new plugs here to to get us to buy it with posts from \"Folks with two faces\". But this time they can shell out all the hype and all they want. I ain't buying nothing from now on in the fore mentioned catagories. What I want from UAD now is tape emulation and some type of transformer and tube emulation. Or maybe some old school effects like ADT, tape flanging, an old school vocal processor suite, Etc. No more single unit brand Eqs or comps for me. I own all the UAD plugs minus the Roland CE1 and DD and the Dream verb and Cambridge eq. DOn't need them.

 

[svs95]

No you won't ever need another EQ or compressor - as long as you're working on the same song the rest of your life!

Seriously, that's almost like someone saying they'll only ever paint with the three or four colors they used in their most recent picture. Actually, I do have some plug-ins I reach for more than most, and these are in that category, but...

There's always room for more in my rack! So many different problems to solve every new day.


svs95